Flying Corgi Media

Flying Corgi Media

2 months ago

Here's a Birthday tribute to the great suffragette Alice Paul, who appears in the play adaptation of our latest book, *Mama Votes!*Alice Paul, the American suffragist who led the fierce final fight for passage of the 19th Amendment, was born on this day in 1885. Along with her friend and fellow organizer Lucy Burns, Paul was a driving force behind the campaign that finally won passage of 19th Amendment -- which outlawed sex discrimination in the right to vote in the United States -- after a 72-year long struggle for women's right to vote. She is pictured here toasting its passage in front of a suffrage flag in 1920.

Paul was raised as a Quaker and once said that “one of their principles was and is equality of the sexes. So I never had any other idea... the principle was always there." After moving to England to continue her studies following her graduation from University of Pennsylvania in 1907, Paul quickly became deeply involved in the British Suffrage Movement, learning many of the civil disobedience tactics that she would later use to win the fight for women's suffrage in the U.S. from the legendary British suffrage leader Emmeline Pankhurst. While in England, she met fellow American suffragist Lucy Burns, who was also frustrated with the state of the U.S. Suffrage Movement, which had stalled in making significant progress toward winning the vote.

Together, in 1916, Paul and Burns formed the National Woman’s Party and began to put more direct pressure on the government to give women the vote. In January 1917, they began the “Silent Sentinels” vigil in front of the White House -- which continued for two and a half years until June 1919 when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed both the House and the Senate. In July 1917, Paul and many other protesters were arrested for "obstructing traffic" and incarcerated at the Occoquan Workhouse. To protest the poor conditions of the women held there, Paul led a hunger strike which resulted in her being force-fed. Widespread press coverage of these abuses, along with on-going protests, strongly influenced the Wilson Administration who declared, in January 1918, that women's suffrage was urgently needed as a "war measure" and asked Congress to act.

Together with Burns and others in the National Women’s Party, Paul’s dramatic efforts brought the attention of the world to the struggle for women’s rights in America, and led to the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. Its passage was achieved after a 72-year long struggle which began at the first women's right conference organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848.

A lifelong activist, Paul went on to author the Equal Rights Amendment, which passed both Houses of Congress in 1972; though it never received sufficient support to become adopted nationally, nearly half of U.S. states have adopted the ERA into their state constitutions. Two years after her death in 1977, she was inducted posthumously into the National Women’s Hall of fame.

For an excellent new children's book about this courageous suffrage leader, we highly recommend "Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and Their Big Idea" for ages 7 to 12 at www.amightygirl.com/how-women-won-the-vote

There is also a fantastic new picture book about Alice Paul, "Fight of the Century: Alice Paul Battles Woodrow Wilson for the Vote" for ages 5 to 9 at www.amightygirl.com/fight-of-the-century

For older kids, we recommend "Alice Paul and the Fight for Women's Rights" for 10 and up at www.amightygirl.com/alice-paul-women-s-rights

For adult readers, we also recommend, "Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait: Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the Right to Vote," at www.amightygirl.com/how-long-must-we-wait-alice-paul

Alice Paul and Lucy Burn's incredible story and their important legacy in securing women's right to vote is also told in the powerful film "Iron Jawed Angels," highly recommended for viewers 13 and up, at www.amightygirl.com/iron-jawed-angels

To introduce children and teens to more amazing women of the Suffrage Movement, check out the reading recommendations in our blog post, “How Women Won the Vote: Teaching Kids About the U.S. Suffrage Movement, ” at www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11827 ... See MoreSee Less

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